Key is to compete at all times: Jayawardene

After registering a comprehensive win over Australia in the second final of the tri-series, Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said that the key to his team's success against a tough opponent is to "compete well at all times".

Sri Lanka's eight-wicket win at Adelaide on Tuesday is their sixth win in the last nine games against Australia in Australia, including four in the present series.

"The way to do is to compete with them at all times. You must be able to handle a few situations better than them," said Jayawardene after the day's play.

Chasing Australia's 271 for six, the Lankans overhauled the target with 34 balls to spare in what turned out to be a lop-sided contest and took it to the deciding third final of the tri-series, to be played here on Thursday.

"We batted with controlled aggression today, though we took the extra risk. We looked to break down the target and play according to the situation," said Jayawardene.

Extremely disappointed with his team's effort in the field earlier in the day, Jayawardene said it was one their worst performances of the tour.

"We were dropping everything. With just four bowlers (in the ranks), we had to pick wickets. It's one of our worst performances of the tour. We can laugh about it now but it would have cost us (the finals)," he said.

Jayawardene, who was fined for arguing with the umpires after they made a delayed call on a no-ball bowled by Ferveez Maharoof, admitted that he became hyper.

"I am culprit for carrying it on a bit long and have been fined (10 per cent) for it. It's good once in a while to do so but I was hyper (more than required).

"My issue was not the no-ball but how late the call was made. Umpire (Oxenford) said there was a lack of communication with the square leg umpire (Asad Rauf)."

That particular moment sort of galvanised the Lankans who didn't allow the Australians to run away with a large total in the final overs.

"The only thing I told them was to make sure they can't have free runs, let them have a tough run. The guys did it well," said Jayawardene.

Regarding the Sri Lankans showing remarkable flexibility, like opening the bowling with off-spinner Tillakaratne Dilshan, Jayawardene said: "We had an option to go with an off-spinner or an extra batsman. Since we knew we would be chasing today, we opted for an extra batsman. He (Dilshan) bowled very well, besides his batting of course."

Jayawardene has made a strong case to be a regular opener in ODIs but the skipper said he would have a word with the selectors and see how it pans out. His promotion though has pushed regular opener Upul Tharanga down the order.

"He's been told we would be flexible with the batting order. Everyone's getting the reasoning (for shift in batting order) and it's done tactically," explained the Lanka captain.